Meridian Mobile to roll out new models this year

Targeting the youth and the rapidly growing replacement market, Meridian Mobile Private Limited, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the $1.2-billion Meridian Group of UK, is planning to expand its product portfolio in the country this year.

"The high growth in the replacement market, of late, has been fuelling the mid-end mobile phone segment. In line with this trend and to differentiate ourselves with competition in the mid-value segment, we are planning to introduce around 15 new models in the country this year, with a price range of between Rs 3,000 and Rs 8,000," Meridian Mobile's chief executive officer (India operations) Rajiv Khanna told Business Standard.

The company will be launching four products next month under its 'Fly' brand including a low-priced GSM phone in the Rs 3,000-bracket, and a highly-featured large-screen phone in the mid-end segment, he said. The one-year-old company currently offers around 17 GSM models in India, prices of which range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000.

According to him, the company has so far sold around 60,000 units in the country, and is looking at doubling the number in the next two months. "We have already placed an order for 75,000 units with our parent company for May-June, which was the actual target for this entire year," Khanna said.

As part of its strategy to bring in as many offerings as possible to the country, Meridian Mobile is also looking at launching two smartphone models in the next couple of months. It is currently evaluating a few models, which were successful in east and central Europe.

To cash in on the success of postpaid bundle offers, he said, the company was also considering entering into relationships with cellular service providers in the country. At present, Meridian Mobile is negotiating with three leading cellular providers, which are expected to reach fruition next month, he said.

"With the new launches and offerings, we are hopeful of achieving a 5 to 6 per cent pie of the Indian mid-end mobile phone market in the country, besides a turnover of around Rs 100 crore this year," he added.

Meridian does not have any distributors and operates on the in-shop promoters model. The company's products are currently available in over 1,000 multi-branded shops and 200 large retain chains like Lifestyle, Pantaloon, Subhiksha and Phone Shoppe.